Matcha & Toasted Coconut Butter Energy Bites
I don't admit it often but I spend a lot of time fantasizing about the life that I want, the person I want to be. Some days I want to be the type of sleek city girl who wears stilettos and lipstick, coffee in hand. Other days I want to be a kitchen witch, linen apron, flour on my face, plants bursting off of every ledge, a pot of sauce bubbling happily and a sheet of crystalline cookies glinting in the sun. Other times I want to be a yogini goddess, doing headstands in a wood-floored studio dappled with light, incense smoke curling up and up in a twisted string, my private alter covered in flowers. All in all, I feel I get glimpses into those different selves -- because we all have different personas we take on. I take a slice out of each persona throughout the day, a pinch of essence out of the different identity jars. Sometimes I'm a little bit city, kitchen witch, and yogini all within a 24 hour period. Why do we have to choose?
Life is a big experiment. If you want to be a sparkly yogi kitchen diamond, do it. Embrace the freak inside of you, the pastiche of all the the things you love. Nobody is or has to be just one vision of themselves. Every person is a quilt of experiences and dreams -- some squares are threadbare, some threaded in gold. Every oddness has a niche to flourish & flower in.
Coconut butter bites are a new-to-me thing. They can be made in infinite iterations. Like that art kid in high school that tries on a new persona every day. Why not try everything? You might stumble upon something special, unusual, utterly you. Matcha and maple with toasted coconut butter is basically that art kid going through a Japanese culture phase. And all of us on the outside get to watch the strange beauty unfold.
How do they taste? Toasty warm coconut + grassy matcha + sweet, oaky, caramelly maple + nutty hemp hearts. I like to balance out earthy flavors with deep sweetness -- anything that makes me think of brown sugar cinnamon rolls is on the right brain train.
- 2 cups shredded dried coconut flakes
- 1.5 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon matcha green tea powder
- 2 tablespoons hemp hearts
- pinch himalayan pink sea salt
- Heat a cast iron or sautee pan over medium heat. Add the dried shredded coconut flakes and toast, stirring frequently, until golden.
- Spoon the toasted coconut into the bowl of a high powered blender. Blend on high for 2-10 minutes (this really depends on how powerful your blender is), stopping to scrape down the sides every once in a while, until the coconut softens into a malleable dough.
- Add the the maple syrup, matcha, hemp hearts, and sea salt and blend for 30 seconds or until everything has combined evenly.
- Roll a tablespoon-sized amount of the dough between your palms to form a golf ball sized energy bite. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Eat immediately or store covered at room temperature for up to 2 days -- they can be refrigerated, covered, for up to a week.